


The Jackal: Albany

by elflordsmistress



Series: The Jackal [2]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, First Bartlet Campaign
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28027608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elflordsmistress/pseuds/elflordsmistress
Summary: I have a theory that Danny Concannon never actually got to watch CJ lip-sync 'The Jackal' so I'm going to expand on that a little. This is #2 in a series of standalones dedicated to the song, and is set on the campaign trail.
Series: The Jackal [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2052945
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	The Jackal: Albany

**Author's Note:**

> The White House - Pro AM. Season One, Episode 17  
> Jed Bartlet | Danny Concannon (and the guy just sitting there)
> 
> “I miss our late night talks, Danny.’
> 
> ‘Yes, Sir.'
> 
> “Out there on the campaign trail. Ames, Iowa. Tulsa. Skokie. Center City. Tallahassee. Albany. San Antonio. Jasper, Wyoming.”
> 
> “Yes, Sir.”
> 
> “We got very close.”
> 
> “I’m flattered by that, Sir.”
> 
> “You covered the First Lady as well.”
> 
> “Yes, Sir.”
> 
> “You literally wrote the book on my wife.”
> 
> “Yes, Sir.”
> 
> “Once again, I want to emphasize the strong personal bond we built on the campaign trail.”
> 
> I also borrowed dialogue from:  
> The Short List: Season 1, Episode 9.

_**Albany, New York - sometime in 1998** _

Danny Concannon was nursing a drink and flipping through a notebook when a slight rush of air that told him someone was sliding onto the bar stool next to him.

“Hey Josh,” he said without looking up.

“Hey Danny.”

When the silence stretched out for a while, Danny closed up his notebook and took a sip of his drink.

“What’s goin’ on?”

“Abbey Bartlet.”

“What about her?”

“Listen .. uh ..” Josh looked around and his voice dropped a few decibels. “There’s someone from your old stomping grounds sniffing round her.”

“ _Who?_ ” 

Josh shrugged and avoided the question.

“She’s concerned there might be some stuff out there ..”

“Is there?”

“ _You_ tell _me_.”

“Josh, any information I get I have to print, you know that.”

“Do you _have_ any information?”

“No.”

“Would you tell me if you _did_?”

“What’s in it for me?”

Josh cast a look around them.

“An hour with Bartlet.”

Danny snorted and downed his drink.

“What’s so funny?”

“ _You are_ , Josh,” Danny replied as he signalled the bartender to get them both a drink.

“What then?”

“I want access to Abbey Bartlet. If there’s anything out there, I’ll find it, but if she’s going to be First Lady ..”

“That’s a tall order, Danny.”

The reporter swivelled to look at him.

“If Jed Bartlet makes it to the White House you’re going to need someone friendly to the administration. Just sayin’ ..”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Great.” 

Danny downed the second drink and stood to leave.

“Hey .. come by the campaign office later.” 

The Nokia ringtone interrupted the moment, and Josh raised his hand and then patted down his jacket until he found his phone and pulled it out.

“Hey, Leo. Hang on a minute, will ya?” 

Josh covered the mouth piece and looked up at Danny. 

“Come by for a drink. CJ’s doing _The Jackal_.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Danny smiled, but the gears were turning in his head.

“I gotta take this,” Josh said as he turned his attention back to the phone.

“Take it easy,” Danny said as he headed out of the bar.

“How’d it go?” Leo asked from the other end.

“He wants access to Abbey.”

“No surprise there.”

“Think she’ll entertain it?”

“Maybe. He went to Notre Dame, Jed likes him. Maybe. I’ll see what I can do. You guys all set for tonight?”

“Yeah yeah,” Josh said before hanging up.

He sipped his drink absently; his mind on what it would mean to have someone like Danny Concannon as an ally on Pennsylvania Avenue.

If they made it that far.

* * *

Danny stepped into a haze of cigarette smoke and took a beer from one of the volunteers milling around.

“Hey Danny.”

“Oh, hey CJ. Heard you’re doing _The Jackal_ tonight?”

“Is that why you came?”

“Gotta see it sometime, right?”

CJ put her hands on her hips and feigned shock.

“I’ve done it five times since South Dakota and this is the _first_ time you’re seeing it?”

“What can I say, I’m a busy guy.”

CJ’s shoulders shook with silent mirth as she took the beer from his hand and took a sip.

“Please .. _help yourself_.”

He watched her take a second sip and then a third.

“You in need of some Dutch courage there?”

“Nah, I’m on fire tonight.”

“I can tell,” he said disbelievingly as he took the bottle back from her and raised it to his lips.

“ _Let’s go, CJ!_ ” someone shouted from the other end of the room.

“So ..” CJ asked him as people began to chant her name.

“Hmm?” 

Danny was looking distractedly around the room, hoping to catch a glimpse of Josh Lyman.

“You gonna stick around or what?”

“ _CJ! CJ! CJ!_ ”

“Danny?”

“Yeah. I’ll .. stick around.” 

“Good.”

“Okay then.”

“Okay.”

Someone hit the play button on the CD player as he settled into a corner, and he realized that he hadn’t listened to the song in a very long time. The spoken-word jazz was as smooth as as he remembered; dulcet with underlying tones of fierce. Shades of sublimated desire.

_He had a real deep voice, and white pearly teeth_  
_And his shoe was always shining_  
_Long slender fingers manicured perfectly_  
_The man wore 800-dollar Italian suits, straight from_  
_I dunno, what would they call it_  
_Milan or Rome or someplace like that?_  
_I knew it wasn't local_  
_I said, I got to get next to that_  
_I haven't seen him in a long time_  
_My man was so fine_  
_He could get any good girl into trouble_

  
No figure-hugging pink dress here, but there was something mesmerizing about watching CJ even when she looked nothing like Dana Bryant. He looked around - mostly to ascertain that he wasn’t the only man in the room feeling the heat - and smiled a little to himself when he recognized the squirms from grown men for what they really were.

He caught CJ’s eye across the room, and something about the way she lifted her left shoulder slightly made him wonder for a moment whether she was putting some extra effort into this just for him.

“ _Danny_ ..”

A voice to his left caught his attention, and he turned his head to find Leo standing right next to him.

“Take a walk with me.”

“Sure.”

He put his beer bottle on a nearby table and followed Leo out of the building.

“I’ll cut straight to the chase,” the older man said as soon as they were at a safe distance. “Mrs. Bartlet is wondering if you have a few minutes to spare.”

“Right now?”

“Yeah.”

Danny tried to get a read on the man in front of him, but Leo was choosing his words carefully.

“There’s a lot of talk about a .. biography about Mrs. Bartlet,” Leo continued.

“Yeah, I heard something about that.”

“She wants your name on the dust jacket.”

Danny was speechless just long enough to exhale the pent up anticipation that had built up in his body since the earlier conversation with Josh.

“I’ll just .. uh .. grab a fresh notebook and pen from my car.” 

“You do that,” said Leo, patting him on the shoulder with a satisfied smile. “I’ll be waiting right here.”


End file.
